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Thanksgiving Service | 5/1/19

Hey GoP,

Welcome to 2019 errybodyyy! Our first service of the year was a Thanksgiving Service in the Thanksgiving Hall ;) where we look back and said goodbye to 2018 by sharing the things that we were thankful for throughout the year.

Shujing also shared a word on how we should always be giving thanks regardless of the current circumstance and whether or not we have seen a miracle happen yet.

Feeding of the Five Thousand

But he answered, “You give them something to eat.”

They said to him, “That would take more than half a year’s wages[a]! Are we to go and spend that much on bread and give it to them to eat?”

“How many loaves do you have?” he asked. “Go and see.”

When they found out, they said, “Five—and two fish.”

Then Jesus directed them to have all the people sit down in groups on the green grass. So they sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties.Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to his disciples to distribute to the people. He also divided the two fish among them all. They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces of bread and fish. The number of the men who had eaten was five thousand. - Mark 6: 30-44

In the story of the Feeding of the Five Thousand, the disciples had had a long day. They were supposed to be withdrawing to the countryside to rest but then were followed by a huge crowd. The massive gathering was unplanned and in the middle of nowhere, with no nearby places to get food. When the crowd got hungry, the disciples were hungry too, yet there were only 5 loaves and 2 fishes to be shared.

The situation wasn’t looking good at this point, yet Jesus gave thanks for what little they had, before the miracle had happened. In this story, the miracle only happened after thanks was given and in the same way there are situations in life where we need to continue giving thanks despite the situation in faith that the miracle is coming up.

Shujing also made a comparison between the Feeding of the Five Thousand and the Last Supper. During the Feeding of the Five Thousand, an unfavourable situation had been turned around by Jesus, the powerful, miracle-working teacher. However, at the Last Supper, a festive mood where the disciples were eating a big meal quickly turned sour as Jesus became the suffering, rejected servant. When we follow Christ, we identify not just with the powerful, miracle-working teacher that He can be but also with the suffering, rejected servant that He chose to become for our sake. Therefore, as Christian, we should continue to be tenkful regardless of miracle or persecution.

Testimonies/Thanksgiving

Carlos (Chozone)

Firstly, I’d like to thank my cell leader Keith. When I think of what kind of man I aspire to be, it'd be Keith. He's that much of a role model to me. Not because he lifts weights and is super smart but really because of his heart for others. Whenever I share with him what I have on my head or am troubled, he always puts in max effort in replying and giving me advice and doesn't belittle whatever I say, even if its as lame as me being insecure about my braces or who I have a crush on. But more than that, he treats me like a brother rather than some kid who is 8 years younger than him. I really cannot express how blessed I am to have such an amazing leader like Keith. I love you bro even though you're in the US right now, and thank you so much for showing and teaching me how to really be a man of God.

I also want to thank Faithe Poh. The person who tolerates my nonsense the most. My blueticked messages, emo phases and etc. I gave a her a really hard time. But thats why I love and appreciate her so much. She laughs with me and cries with me. When I was going through a really tough season in my life, she just kept encouraging me and praying for me. Honestly, theres really nothing much else I can say about her. She's just amazing. Replying my texts in the middle of her night shift, even if they’re stupid. She came all the way to Toa Payoh to watch and support me during competition, sends me Bible verses, before my school year starts and is just genuinely curious and wants to know about whats going in my life . So, Faithe, thank you so so so much!! Thank you for not making our relationship that of cell kid to leader but as friends, for always being proud of me and loving me even when I've slipped and for showing me that being a leader is more than just the title.

Lastly I want to thank all the other Chozone leaders: Serene, Eli, Jade, Joy, Ben, Lizzy, Angie, Beli and our zone leader Chloe. Thank you for investing the time and effort serving in GOP despite being super busy with school and work. We love y'all and are glad to have you guys as leaders.

Esther (Chozone)

I am really thankful for Beli, who was my cell leader this year. She has really been taking care of me. Although sometimes she is busy, she would force herself to text me. I have to admit that in the past when she texted me, I felt annoyed and didn't text her back on time. But she still continued to text me. At the beginning of 2018, I didn’t really like to pray and I told my mother about that.Thank God for my mother, because she told Beli about it. So Beli has always been asking me to pray during cell and share during cell and now I really see the improvement. (now i take initiative to pray and to share!) For devo too, I always do 2 to 3 days late.I dont really like to do devos but Beli always asks me, if I had done my devo. That made me guilty so I did it. But, I’ve noticed that it really help me spiritually.

I am very grateful for Beli for being my cell leader. And I also want to thank all my other leaders, Ben, Eli, Faithe, Serene, Angie, Chloe, Keith, Ave and Jade for supporting and taking care of all of us. I really appreciate your hard work.

Leah (Chozone)

I am thankful for Ave. I have known her since 2015, when we met at church camp and she brought my friend and I around. Although we were very fussy with her, she still continued and continues to be a shining light by checking up on me, guiding me through tough times and always being there for me as well as not judging me.

I am also thankful for Beiying. As a photographer from VAM, Beiying has been a great leader! She has taught me so much from positioning to camera settings. She comes from a position of friendship instead of a superior which is one of the key points of leadership, she inspires me to be the best photographer, that I can be.

Evan (Jarrold Zone)

I’m here to share my testimony on how we should always be faithful and trust God in reaching out to our friends. As yall know, during GOP camp last year, my friend Dhilan got saved so really PTL! I have been reaching out to Dhilan for a really long time- since sec1. Whenever I talked to him about church in the past, he would always be very uninterested and always try to change the subject. Sometimes he would get really mad if I kept asking him if he wanted to come for our parties in church. This lasted till the end of sec 1. In sec 2 at the start of the year, I felt God telling me that in that year, He was going to save a very good friend of mine. When I heard that, I was really excited because I looked at all the friends whom I've been reaching out to in sec 1 and they were quite responsive. So at the start of sec 2, I was reaching out to all these other people but they all started saying no which is like the complete opposite of last year. So during the June holidays, I got to think about what God said a bit more and at that time, I was very confused and disappointed because i thought those people I reached out to in sec 1 who were responsive were going to be more responsive by coming to church for service and not just parties. I told this to OT and he encouraged me to continue to be faithful and trust in what God has told me at the start of the year. So I started thinking of the list of people that I had tried to invite in sec 1 but didn’t come and I thought of Dhilans name. And I didn’t speak to Dhilan about church or Christianity for half a year because I didn’t want to make him feel uncomfortable. But I was reminded that i have already planted the seed in Dhilan and I felt that God wanted me to talk to Dhilan again about church and inviting him to outings. after the June holidays, i started to be more intentional in showing Dhilan God's love by like blessing him with a free drink or helping him more in his weaker subjects. So when we had VS cell on a Thursday, I asked Dhilan if he wanted to come and see what was going on. I already prepared myself for the rejection and was going to say “Nevermind then" but praise the lord because he said he wanted to come. During that cell he was really quiet, but I knew that God was beginning to let the seed I planted to grow. I started praying and doing fasts for God to continue speaking to my friend and to really touch my friends heart. So when we had our guys ministry outing to Sentosa, I invited him and my other friend who isn’t christian to come along because he was scared it would be awkward. At the end of the day, i was really encouraged because He said that he had a lot of fun and that we were very warm and welcoming. So I knew God was really doing something in his heart and I began to be really excited.

So finally it was GOP camp and I felt God ask me to invite Dhilan again, and again Dhilan said yes! But he could come only on the last 2 days but in my heart I thought at least he's coming for ps mark's service haha. And true enough, during Pastor Mark's service, he was asking me a lot of questions and I was happy about that because he doesnt usually ask me abt anything I tell him about Christianity. When Pastor Mark gave an alter call, I responded and I was so shocked because I saw Dhilan responding as well and he was kneeling down. At that moment, I felt God tell me to ask him if he wanted to say the sinner's prayer and he said yes immediately. So i brought him to Junwei and after he explained what it means to say the sinner's prayer, Dhilan still said yes. Until now, I’m still really amazed of how Dhilan got saved! I also really want to thank you guys for being so warm and loving to him that I know played a part in him being saved. He even posted about us on his Instagram which is like sooo shocking for me. He said," Hey guys I just want this post to be about how grateful and blessed i am to have been able to be with u guys.. like thanks soo much for welcoming me into the family and everything..u guys are already like my second family :heart: Also um special thanks to Evan for inviting me haha.. it really impacted me so much:heart::heart:"

No words can describe really how I felt about Dhilan's salvation. Like how He can use me to change someone's life and how he can really speak to people and touch their lives. I would like to encourage everyone that has been reaching out to their friends for a long time or even if you've just started to never give up. Even if you don’t know if whatever you said or did impacted your friends, remember this “For we live by faith, not by sight.”, 2 corinthians 5:&7. Trust in God and continue to be faithful to Him and be the Jesus to His people. I want to end of with a verse that I hope will encourage you, just like how it encouraged me.

I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth. 8 Now he who plants and he who waters are one; but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor

- 1 Corinthians 3:6-8 (NASB)

Andrew

I want to honour and thank Kat, my cell leader, cause she has really been there for every step of the way. During Ascension, she really did her best as an IC and I'm really proud and thankful that she really gave her all and I'm really inspired by her testimony about her family and struggles. Seeing her praising and worshiping God despite the problems she faces, really ignited the fire inside me to also give God my all despite my issues. She is one of the best Cell Leaders I could ask for, she is super caring, kind, loving and funny. She would never fail to pray for us or be there for us. Thanks Kat for being there for me!!!!

Kym

I would like to thank Terryin, like even as a zone leader she really cares for everyone a lot and make sure everyone’s okay. I was talking to her about other things and she just checked on me and asked me how’s my first day of sch and I told her about it and I’ll just say it was really bad, I didn’t like it at all. but she was willing to talk to me about it at 1am+ and made sure I was feeling okay and everything. She even recorded her prayer for me and it honestly helped me a lot so thank you Terryin!

#service thanksgiving testimonies

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